Former Berlin Stasi Spy Base Now Chic New Boutique Hotel Chateau Royal

Berlin’s chic new Château Royal is a former Stasi spy hub. Today, after several years of painstaking renovations, it’s a gorgeous boutique hotel. And the location is superb: in the heart of Berlin Mitte, minutes from the grand avenue Unter den Linden and the famous Brandenburg Gate. Co-founder restaurateur, Stephan Landwehr, manager Moritz Estermann of Grill Royal and Icelandic Chef Victoria Eliasdóttir have joined forces with Creative Director Celia Solf to create a unique hotel and dining destination.

The hotel is made up of two listed buildings, dating from 1850 and 1910 and a new construction and roof extension, designed by well known British architect David Chipperfield. The interiors by Studio Irina Kromayer are wonderful, with every detail carefully considered. Drawing on materials popular in Berlin’s heyday at the turn of the 19th century, the design includes colorful marble, herringbone parquet, oak, nickel and handmade craquelé tiles in a contemporary twist on Berlin bohemia. Contemporary artwork, some from famous artists is everywhere in the public spaces and guest rooms.

Public areas include a stylish lobby, hotel bar, restaurant, private dining room, fireside lounge and winter garden. A staircase includes a wall of colourful Dall glass and in the corridors, an elegant sisal rug runs along the floor of cast asphalt, otherwise known as “Berlin terrazzo” – a reference to the glamorous buildings in the west of Berlin.

An intriguing bit of history from the Communist era is that these buildings were officially a publishing company during the cold war. However, discovery of spy paraphernalia during the recent renovations make it clear that the Stasi used it to spy on the US embassy that was at that time across the road.

Guest rooms

There are 93 rooms, over five floors, of which 26 are suites and one is an apartment. All of Château Royal’s rooms feature high-quality, custom-made furniture designed and produced exclusively for the hotel, heated floors, rain showers, natural latex mattresses and natural fibre bedding. While there are some common design aspects, each room and suite is different both in design and with individual vintage pieces. Handsome custom-made oak furnishings act as room dividers, shelving and décor, upholstered armchairs and gorgeous sofa and pouf ensembles in mohair velvet have been created in collaboration with designer Christian Haas for Château Royal. Televisions are cleverly hidden inside padded chests at the end of the bed. The Schinkel and Bauhaus-inspired bathrooms are super spacious. Lamps are made by KL ceramics and the rattan headboard bed was designed by Kromayer.

Art is an essential feature of this hotel. A different contemporary artist with strong ties to Berlin has contributed a piece of work to each guest room for permanent display, curated by gallerist Kirsten Landwehr in collaboration with Krist Gruijthuijsen (KW Institute for Contemporary Art).

Dining

The ground floor is the hotel’s buzzing social hub and home to the Dottír restaurant and a classic cocktail bar, headed by head chef Elena Müller and Director Alexander Brauer – filled with the same conviviality that the hotel’s sister establishments, Grill Royal, Kin Dee, Le Petit Royal and Freundschaft are known for. Victoria Eliasdóttir, who previously ran the restaurant “Dóttir” in the same location, together with Elena Müller as Chef de Cuisine, is responsible for all food offerings here. The seasonal menus have dishes like: “In Beans We Trust” (smoked white beans, sautéed kale, tomatoes and thyme oil, served with grilled brioche and homemade labneh), Icelandic crisps of barley with smoked seaweed and a rotating shellfish soup.

Artwork

A visit to this hotel is like a visit to a contemporary art gallery. The wall in front of the kitchen features a large neon artwork by Karl Holmqvist: Hurrah Die Butter ist Alle (“untitled”). Krist Gruijhtuisen and Kirsten Landwehr have done a fine job in choosing more than 100 artworks including paintings, sculptures and installations, distributed throughout the hotel. Cosima von Bonin and Klara Lidén are in the restaurant, the roof features “Luftmatratzen” by Angela Mewes and the lamps on the façade are by Paul Hance. Look for the sculpture by Julian Charrière: “Denkmal”, a stone which is stuck in the wall between two rooms. Thomas Demand designed wallpapers for guest rooms and the fireside lounge while John Bock created a curtain. There are light installations, a hidden text behind the baseboard, and outside the “Self-Portrait as a Ghost” stands guard – a cloaked Alicja Kwade in bronze. Christian Jankowski enlisted anyone on the construction site over the last four years to draw castles in the sky, which will be transformed into a light sculpture. Some works are loud and obvious, others quiet and discreet. What they have in common: in one way or another, they carry strong ties to both Berlin and Château Royal.

A double room at Château Royal starts from 225 euros a night, including breakfast.